Not caring about software patents because you're lucky enough to live in a
country that doesn't have them is kind of selfish. I envy you who don't have
to worry about them. In the parts of the world that do have software patents,
using patented formats is a serious problem; have you ever noticed that
Fedora doesn't support playing them? That's because including nonfree
software to play the formats would go against their "mostly free" policy, and
including the free software that plays the formats would be illegal and get
Red Hat sued.
Free software, being freely redistributable, cannot use a patented idea
without infringing on the patent. This is because it is impossible to know
just how many people have gotten a copy without being assured that you are
the only distributor of the software (i.e. taking away freedoms 2 and 3), so
it's impossible to know how much "should" be paid to the patent holder.
Naturally, such a format which only nonfree software can be legally used to
play it in many contries (such as mine, the U.S.) goes completely against a
"free and open" web.
